There is funny shit everywhere... sometimes you just have to squint a little to see it.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Postcard From Lorne

God I am crap at this formatting thing. Nevertheless... We are in a place called Lorne right now. South coast of Victoria, and rather than head into our new city we are driving further down the coast because it's just so Goddamn pretty and we don't have jobs to start on Monday or pets to feed or anything. We do have jobs to find and a place to live to find and a pet to buy to feed to find, but reality can wait a few more days.

I am properly back into the outdoor, hippy-type thing. I was hooked on cold a few short weeks ago but am back into the baggy clothes, barefoot, sun-tanned lifestyle and can't imagine life being any different. Rainbow Serpent was amazing. Such a well organised party. I love camping, love the music, love the craziness of it all. It seriously needs to think about being a longer festival (four days just isn't enough), but I am grateful for it existing at all.

Bumped into friends from Adelaide who we haven't seen in years. We had lost numbers and email addresses and everything and randomly bumped into them at the markets. Partied a bit, lost them throughout the weekend, caught up on the dancefloor again, then as we were packing up to leave at the end of the party realised that the flag pole marker at the campsite next to ours that we had been using as a guide home was theirs; they had been camping next to us all weekend.

The party was excellent. So many Sydney friends... I had the 4am horrors for the first time about leaving Sydney. 4am is great to party through or sleep through, but when you wake and think it's a terrible hour, and it goes on for hours. At the core of my being I am quiet ad solitary and not very good with people, but these past few years I have amazing friends and I am leaving so many of them. Some were at the party, others were not. At 4am, I missed them all and really wasn't sure why I was leaving Sydney.

And I really missed a couple of friends who weren't there. They know who they are. Really missed them. I hope you felt the love.

There was much laughter though. A favourite moment was when the husband of a friend told The Dreaded One that he had spent the weekend trying to connect with me but it didn't seem to be working. The Dreaded One told him, "What you have to understand about Lee is that he wanders around living inside a bubble, but once you get inside that bubble he's quite nice and quite funny." He said he was going to perservere and get inside the bubble. He didn't need to persevere. I took notice and he is indeed a lovely guy and I hope we are friends. That was my favourite conversation about me that I wasn't there to hear. I like that The Dreaded One said that. She could just as eaily said that I am a wanker and to not bother.

We've made friends from Melbourne who we are seeing next weekend. Friends of friends, it's all about the friends.

Lorne... cute little beachside town. We pulled up outside a hotel, whipped out the lappy and booked a hotel online because it was cheaper to do it that way rather than walk in and make a booking. I fucking love technology.

Friends rocked up to our nice hotel with our stunning view overlooking the beach in three campervans. It was a few more people than we were expecting but cool, friends of friends are friends. It doesn't always work out that way but this time it did. I would welcome these crusty, manky doofers into my home anywhere as much as I welcomed them into my hotel room. Cool people, new friends. We ate and drank and celebrated a birthday on Australia Day. I even sang that fucking birthday song. It was all very cool.

Now the place is empty except for music and cockatoo screech. I am listening to more Goddamned Posford because he is that good. I have just chatted to kid sister in San Francisco for almost an hour and there are unicorns and angels down in the street... okay, life is almost that good.

Tomorrow we head down the coast to The 12 Apostles and Port Campbell, possibly to meet up with our new German friends, hopefully drink some wine and swim under a waterfall, and at some point contemplate the future.

Thank you. No idea. Although it's looking like North of Melbourne somewhere. Went to a party on some kind of organic farm in East Brunswick yesterday and it felt very much like our tribe. I think somewhere in that area will be home very shortly.

That's a perfect area for you and Ms Ann. The place you went to is Ceres. Try looking for a place around Brunswick,Thornbury or Northcote. Also, try getting down to St Andrew's market one Saturday morning. I think you'll both like it.

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Random writings, stories, magazine theatre reviews and interviews, fiction, and occasionally my bi-weekly column Grumpy, which used to appear in the pages of Tsunami mag. Oh and be sure to check out my ebook, 17 Stories Of Love & Crime.